Andy Hayler - the only person who has been to every 3 star Michelin restaurant in the world.

If travel truly broadens the mind, then one aspect of this is the discovery of new culinary experiences. Whenever I venture to a new destination I am always intrigued by what the local people eat and what makes their cuisine distinctive. Some things can be surprising or exotic, such as eating fugu in Japan, or finding a complete vegetarian menu at a barbecue meat restaurant called The Carnivore in Kenya. Others can be subtler, such as seeing the variations in the regional cooking of Italy or India. I have eaten French food in a solitary building on the rim of a volcano overlooking lake Toya in Hokkaido, and found joy at the simple pleasure of turbot grilled over charcoal in the open air in Getaria on the Atlantic coast of Spain. Gastronomic pleasures can take the form of unexpected flavour combinations or in the comfort of the familiar, such as the saffron risotto at 3 star Michelin Le Calandre in northern Italy. The World Gourmet Festival celebrates the discovery of new culinary landscapes, but in doing so we will also see how much food brings people together.